The eagle's temple was constructed in 1928 by the Canton Aerie 141 chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The Fraternal Order of the Eagles was founded in 1898 in Seattle, Washington. The group's purpose was to raise money for both local and national charities. The building was designed to facilitate the organization's various activities such as Saturday night dances in the gold room, its weekly Thursday night meetings, its fundraising, and fraternity meetings. The chapter was founded in 1901; the organization was initially housed in various rented facilities in downtown Canton. Significant growth in the organization's membership, when the temple was completed, the organization's numbers had swelled to 3,000. The area in which the building stands is significant due to an urban renewal project that has caused significant changes to the local architecture. The Eagle's Temple is one of two remaining commercial use structures in Canton's central l business district built just prior to the Depression.
The Saxton-McKinley Home is part of the National First Ladies' Historic Site and Museum. It is the last remaining home, other than the White House, that President William and First Lady Ida McKinley lived in. It is also the family home of Ida Saxton McKinley. The home was built in two separate sections; the first part was built in the 1840s and was then added on to in the 1860s. The home remained within the family for many years. It is also one of the few homes known throughout history to pass down from generation to generation of women in the family. It went from Ida's Grandmother to her mother then to her sister. Eventually though, the house fell out of family hands and like the bank building many other businesses were in and out throughout the years. Some of the business included a restaurant and a boarding house as well as others. At one point, a brick façade was even built over the front of the house to make it more business-like. In the late 1990s, the house had been condemned and was about to be torn down. The typical story that is told is that Marshall Belden Jr. (the same man who donated the bank building) noticed the wrecking ball about to hit the building and quickly realized it was his ancestral home. Belden was the grandson of Ida's sister and had spent some of his summers there as a child. He immediately stopped destruction, bought the house, and spent a lot of his own money to restore the outside of the home. He then went through the process of finding someone to purchase the home from him when he heard of Mary Regula's idea about opening a library and museum dedicated to our Nation's First Ladies. Once it was acquired by the First Ladies National Historic Site, the interior was remodeled as closely to the original home as was possible. The home is now open for guided tours only and the tours are led by a volunteer typically in period dress, or dressed as a First Lady. The museum is open regularly Tuesday through Saturday and tours start every half hour at the Education and Research Center. Sunday hours are available throughout the summer months. Reservations are required for large groups but not for individuals or small groups. For more information on tours or to make reservations visit http://www.firstladies.org/mapdirections.aspx. The First Ladies National Historic Site is a part of, but not fully owned by the National Park Service.
Fully opened in 2003, the First Ladies National Historic Site is one of a kind throughout the country as it focuses on the lives of the nation's First Ladies. On occasion women of firsts are represented as well such as Margaret Mead or Wilma Mankiller. The idea for the museum and research library began in 1994 when Mary Regula, the wife of long time Ohio Congressman Ralph Regula, thought the First Ladies of the nation needed a place to represent them as well. The First Ladies National Historic Site consists of two buildings, the Education and Research Center and the Saxton-McKinley Family Home. The two buildings each went through a multitude of renovations. The Education and Research Center was originally City National Bank built in 1895. City National Bank was eventually absorbed by another bank and then later went through a series of other various businesses such as lock smiths and barber shops. The building was acquired by the committee trying to open up the museum in 1997 as a gift from Marshall Belden Jr. who was from a prominent Canton family. The building was added to Save America's Treasures list in 2000 and officially became a historic site a month later. Construction on the building began a year later in 2001. Two years later in 2003, renovations were complete and the Education and Research Center was dedicated by First Lady Laura Bush. Since then, the building has become the location of the main gallery as well as offices and the archives that store the artifacts and documents owned by the First Ladies National Historic Site.
The Courtland Hotel was an iconic building in early Canton. The building was constructed in 1905, being designed by one of Canton's most notable architect Guy Tilden. The hotel housed many iconic moments in Cantons history, including a conference by the suffrage movement as well as a meeting by the organization that would go on to become the NFL. The building changed names multiple times throughout its history. First, in 1948, when it changed from the Courtland Hotel to the St. Francis Hotel. The next change came in 1965 when it became the Stark County Offices. The building stood until 1992 when the building was destroyed to make room for a parking garage. The last remnant of the building is the main entrance, which still stands on the site.
Italian immigrant Frank Onesto opened this historic Canton hotel in 1930. Onesto started in the hotel industry in 1907 when he was 15 years old. By the age of 18, Onesto was the manager of the Delmont Hotel which was located on this corner until it was demolished and replaced by the Onesto Hotel. Owing to his experience as the manager of the Delmont, Onesto was able to secure funding to construct this new hotel which was designed by J.C. Stevens in the Italian Renaissance style. Many notable figures stayed in the Onesto, including President Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Al Capone. The hotel closed in 1969 and the building had a succession of owners in the next decades who leased space in the building for apartments, offices, and low-income housing for the elderly. In 2014 a project to restore the hotel was completed by the Coon Restoration & Sealants group. The building is now home to the Onesto Lofts and also serves as an event space.
The Mellett/Canton Daily News Building was constructed in 1912 for the Canton Daily News, a publication that started as the Canton News-Democrat. The newspaper was purchased in 1923 by former Ohio Governor James Cox. Cox was instrumental in hiring Don Mellett, one of the most famous journalists in the history of the paper. Mellett was a progressive journalist whose goal was to expose corruption in Canton. Mellett was shot and killed shortly after publishing two articles that claimed that local police were working in collaboration with a mafia-style group led by "The King of the Blac Hand." The journalist's death led to an investigation and the arrest of four individuals, including a deputy and the city's Chief of Police. Today, the building is home to the King and Whitmore medical billing company and several other tenants.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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While best known for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton is home to numerous other landmarks as demonstrated by this tour which includes numerous historic buildings and the First Ladies National Historic Site.
